or bite. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I cared very much. So much that I was already trying to figure out how to get bitten by a radioactive spider and develop kickass superpowers so I could pulverize Merdon. It was just that I seriously couldn’t move. I was spent. Beyond spent.
“You’re not done. Get up.”
“You’re cute when you’re crazy,” I murmured, my breathing already slowing and my body feeling heavy. I knew this sensation. It was just like passing out. I was going under and hard.
“Night,” I whispered.
He turned me over and picked me up. I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I let him carry me upstairs.
“Are you going to shower, or do you need help?” he asked angrily.
I knew what he was trying to do, and I knew how much things were about to suck for me. Yet, there was only one real answer.
“I need help,” I murmured.
He grunted.
A small part of me hoped he’d be nice. That part was stupid and naïve.
He turned on the water and walked into the shower with me. The cold blast shocked a gasp out of me and jumpstarted my system. I jerked in his arms and opened my eyes to look up at him.
“Thanks. I think I got it from here.”
He grunted again and set me on my feet. He waited, watching to make sure I was steady before leaving to stand on the other side of the glass.
“What?” I stuttered. “No help s-soaping me up?”
He didn’t answer. I didn’t expect him to. Stripping out of my wet clothes was a chore and attempting to throw them over the top, far too much effort. I let everything fall to the bottom of the shower and reached for the soap as the water warmed. My legs gave out, and I sat hard on my wet clothes.
Merdon glanced back at me.
“No peeking now,” I said. “You had your chance.”
He grunted and faced away again.
I didn’t care about him looking as much as I cared about him witnessing any attempt I made to try to stand back up. Naked, I could handle. Looking weak, I could not.
Getting to my knees wasn’t too hard, but from my knees to my feet took some concentration. I felt dizzy by the time I was standing.
“I don’t feel so good,” I said, fumbling for the shut-off.
“You’re fine,” Merdon said, opening the door and thrusting a towel at me. “Dry off.”
I bared my teeth at him, in a pathetic attempt at a snarl. He grunted and turned his back to me. It wasn’t the reaction I’d wanted.
“Why are you still in here? You always leave before the shower turns off.”
“You don’t feel well.”
“No shit. I just told you that. It doesn’t explain why—”
I slipped and would have gone down if not for Merdon.
He was surprisingly good at gripping wet skin. The thought made my mind fling itself into the gutter with wild abandon.
“I need help,” I muttered.
“I am helping.”
He proved it by dumping me on my mattress, stalking to the closet, and throwing a shirt and shorts at me. I snorted then struggled into the clothes for the next several minutes.
Panting and slightly sweaty, I collapsed on the bed.
“You need to eat.”
I opened one eye and found him staring down at me.
“Yep. I’m hungry. But I’m more tired than hungry, so that’s going to win for now. You can spank me for it later.”
I rolled over and curled into a ball on top of the covers, too tired to fix the problem.
I woke up gasping for air, my throat raw and tight from screaming. The need to run and the certainty of imminent danger consumed me. Wild-eyed, I looked around the room. Nothing was familiar. I couldn’t remember where I was or how I’d gotten there.
My gaze locked onto the closet. Heart hammering, I flew out from under the covers and scrambled for the dark, small space. Even in my panic, I knew to be quiet as I wedged myself into a back corner and curled into a ball.
Straining to hear over the rapid beat of my pulse, I listened. Everything was quiet.
It took a moment to understand there weren’t infected after me. That I’d been dreaming again. This time it’d been Katie leading me by the hand, and I’d been the one left behind. I could still feel the bites on my arms and legs.
A shadow moved outside the closet, and I smothered a terrified whimper. Towering and huge, the thing bent low until I recognized the fey